Breeze #109

November, 2016: Breeze Issue #109

A Free E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

Greeting From The Director

Greetings! This month, JFLA will change the world. Following last year’s successful collaboration, we will once again help Table For Two, a Japanese non-profit organization, promote World Food Day by co-hosting Onigiri (rice ball) workshops at Japanese Food Festival in Universal City, Los Angeles. The workshops are part of their campaign titled “Change the World with Onigiri” in which one selfie of yourself making and eating onigiri uploaded on the campaign website will be matched by five school meals to children in need provided through sponsoring organizations. There have already been over 40,000 photos uploaded in three weeks, but we need more! Even if you will not be able to participate in the workshops themselves, you can still help the cause by uploading photos from your with the hashtag #OnigiriAction.

Toward the end of the month, we will change the way Kabuki theatre is construed in the United States. Who could have predicted that ‘One-Piece’, Eiichiro Oda’s popular Manga, would be turned into a Kabuki theatre last year in Japan, and what is more, be premiered in Hollywood later this month as cinema Kabuki with English subtitles? JFLA is thrilled to have this one-time-only opportunity not only to attract a new generation of viewers to the world of Kabuki, but also radically alter the stereotypical image of this traditional theatre outside of Japan. Please reserve your seat early as there are only two shows premiering in the entire United States this year!

For those on the “other” side of the county, we will be coming to see you in Boston this month at the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Annual Convention. As always, we will have our own booth in the Japan Pavilion with lots of new info and goodies. What is special this year is that we will be officially releasing the results of the Japanese Language Education Survey that JFLA conducted in 2015. At this point, I can only say that we have lots to talk about!

Whichever coast you are in, we will bring a bag full of surprises and amazement in November, beating Santa by a full month!

This exhibition introduces yakishime ceramics, which developed in distinctive directions in Japan, as a part of Japanese traditional culture. It introduces yakishime in the context of the tea ceremony and washoku, Japanese cuisine. It will offer visitors from other cultures an excellent opportunity to experience a sensibility and aesthetic unique to Japan.

17 year old girl Shiori is an aspiring model. She is an inspiration for her 12-year-old fan Ayumi, who's just ran away from home. Shiori is busy broadcasting herself on TwitCasting, a selfie online video distributing website. Shiori warms up to Ayumi, who has always been a devoted fan. But one day, she introduces Ayumi to her live-in boyfriend Kawashima, never expecting Ayumi would start living with them. Kawashima thinks he is acting as the hero, and Shiori decides to leave the apartment, unable to tell him her feelings. With nowhere to go, Shiori takes shelter in a private booth at a “manga cafe”. There, she starts looking up information on Ayumi, and finds that Ayumi has a blog. Seeing Ayumi's untainted devotion for her, Shiori starts to develop a confusing crush on her. A relationship starts between the two girls, but it’s not friendship nor a love affair.

Join us for a day of fun, food, beer, sake, and Japanese culture. Tickets include: sushi, some of Japan's best ramen, samples and tasting of all the many flavors of Japan from our vendors, and beer and sake tasting for 21 guests. JFLA and Table for Two will be sponsoring two special Onigiri (rice ball) workshops at 12:30pm and 3pm by NAOKO TAKEI MOORE, donabe and Japanese home-cooking expert. There will also be a film screening of "Tsukiji Wonderland" at 1:30pm.

Booth: #1430, Part of the Japan Pavilion
Giveaways, Japanese language learning resources display, presentations about the J-LEAP program featuring current participants, and more!

Presentation: “Advocacy and Data from the Survey on Japanese Language Education 2015”
Saturday, 11/19: 2:00pm @ Adams meeting room
Official public release of the 2015 JF Survey results!

One young girl discovers love… and adulthood.
"Tamako Love Story" (83mins, 2014)
Directed by Naoko Yamada
Wednesday, November 23 @ 7pm (JFLA Auditorium)
In Japanese with English subtitles

Spring. The start of senior year. Dusk. On the way home from school. Tamako, Midori and two friends discuss their futures with shades of trepidation and earnestness. Tamako responds with a casual air. She's going to take over the family business. Meanwhile, her long time neighbor across the street, Mochizo, has come to a momentous decision. It augurs the start of many changes around them. Gradually, Tamako begins to feel a change of heart.

Cinema Kabuki "ONE PIECE" introduces kabuki theatre to a new generation. The play showcases elements of traditional kabuki: acting style, classical language, set design, costume elements, and more. The plot is from a specific One Piece storyline that happens in the middle of the long saga – The Paramount War. It covers volumes 51 to 60 of the manga and episodes 457 to 489 of the anime.

Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese theater, but it is also exciting entertainment. On the occasion of the presentation of “Super Kabuki II: ONE PIECE,” kabuki scholar and performer Mark Oshima will explain the appeal of kabuki. First there will be short introductions to kabuki, Super Kabuki and “ONE PIECE” with a short live performance of kabuki music before the showing of the films. Then, there will be a lecture-demonstration introducing the history of kabuki, the elements that go into it and a live performance of kabuki music including subtitles of the lyrics. Featuring Kiyomoto shamisen player Kiyomoto Nobushizuyoshi.

Support Program for Translation and Publication on Japan
Deadline: November 21, 2016

Japanese Language Program for Specialists in Cultural and Academic Fields
Deadline: December 1, 2016

This program provides specialists (Researchers, Postgraduate Students, Librarians, Museum Curators, etc.) who need a good command of Japanese language to conduct field work and research through an intensive residential training course on the Japanese language. This year we had two participants in the short-term program and you can read about their experiences below. There is also one participant currently in the long-term program and we will post her experiences once the program concludes next year.

Exhibitions Abroad Support Program
Deadline: December 1, 2016

This program is designed to support museums and art institutions overseas that organize exhibitions introducing Japanese art and culture to audiences overseas. In addition, this program is designed to support overseas international exhibitions such as biennials/triennials introducing Japanese artists and their works.

Training Program for Japanese-Language Teachers
Deadline: December 1, 2016

If you are a Japanese-language teacher looking for ways to improve your proficiency, methodology, and knowledge of Japan, we have multiple programs including long-term, short-term, training program on a specific theme (new for 2017), project-based training program and graduate program (Master's Course) for teachers. You can also read about the experiences of the two participants in this year's program below:

Japanese Language Education Update 36 (3 Year Anniversary):
Why I learned Japanese

Recently, in a meeting with a number of Japanese language teachers, one of them looked me in the eye and said, “I hate anime. I never watch it and I never use it in class.” She went on to say that her students are very “elite” and that they probably didn’t want to learn about anime anyway.

All I could think was, “…Those poor students.” But when I looked back on my own Japanese language classes, none of my professors ever used anime to instruct. I remember one paragraph about Doraemon that we read in class, but that is the exception that proves the rule.

I would like to take this opportunity to urge Japanese language teachers to incorporate anime and manga into your lessons. Even if you hate it.

2016-2017 J-LEAP Reports

For the 2016-2017 school year, we invited twelve native assistant teachers (AT) to various schools around the country as part of the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP). This is the sixth year of this program where schools around the country are given the opportunity to invite an AT for up to two years with the goal of strengthening their Japanese language program. This month, we will feature the reports from the following ATs detailing their experiences at American schools.

The Windsong School Received Grant from the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle

On October 6, Ms. Miyuki Suka (Education/JET Program Advisor) from the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle visited Windsong School (Spokane, WA) and presented the Japan Foundation’s grant check to Ms. Akiko Melton (Japanese language teacher) and Ms. Breann Treffry (administrator). The students welcomed Ms. Suka by singing a Japanese song. Our grant support will be used for expanding the Japanese language program during the 2016-17 school year.

Sheridan Japanese School Awarded Grant for Japanese Language Education Activities

On October 7, Consul General Uchiyama of the Consular Office of Japan in Portland presented the Japan Foundation’s grant check to Mr. Andy Scott, Executive Director of Sheridan Japanese School (Sheridan, OR). Our grant support will be used for expanding their Japanese language program during the 2016-17 school year.